Acts 20:32

And now I commit you to God and to the message of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all who are sanctified.

We struggle to build ourselves up just to fall under the pressure of our own misguided expectations. We may catch a glimpse of something God wants to do in our lives and immediately set out to accomplish it, only to find ourselves lacking in some area and unable to attain the vision we so desperately desire. Sooner or later we come to learn that only the grace of God can build us up and grant us the inheritance we’ve viewed from afar. The vision He gives us is what He is doing in us and not what we must do to please Him. His grace covers us, sustains us, and carries us to or destination.

While Luke is the author of Acts, Paul is speaking here. Notice the first few words of the verse carefully. Paul committed these faithful followers he had birthed in Christ to God. He handed them over to God’s care and to the grace of God for their well-being. There is no struggle, attack, hardship, or goal that the grace of God cannot help you overcome. When you feel you’ve blown it all and have disqualified yourself from every blessing or promotion, the grace of God is able to build you up and give you the very inheritance you desire. Accusers may surround you, but God’s grace insulates you from disaster.

If you are troubled over a wayward loved one, commit him/her to God and the message of His grace. If you have fallen and fear you are disqualified in any way, commit yourself to God’s grace. He decides where the pieces fall and how they will be put back together. His vision awaits, but you will have to trust Him to take you there.

Have a blessed day!

Ezekiel 47:12

All kinds of trees providing food will grow along both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, and their fruit will not fail. Each month they will bear fresh fruit because the water comes from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be used for food and their leaves for medicine.

Ezekiel saw a river flowing from the sanctuary that led to the Dead Sea. While it started as only a trickle, it became very deep the further it traveled. Everything that grew along this river was full of life and flourished. The vision bears close resemblance to Jesus’s conversation with the woman at the well in John 4:13-14, when He explained to her that whoever drinks from the water He gives will never thirst again. Like this river, the water Jesus gives will become a well of water springing up within us for eternal life.

As Christians, we have a well springing up within us that gives life wherever we go. Christ – through the power of the Holy Spirit has the power to renew, restore, and refresh every dead thing in us so we flourish with new life. Eventually, that life overflows from us onto others as we become productive and fruitful. We were made to flourish and to give life, and we are not happy unless we do.

The river in Ezekiel flowed from the sanctuary, where the sacrifices were made. Our river flows from the cross. If you find that everything around you is dead, a return to the cross might be appropriate. The blood that trickles from there has power to give life and increase it wherever you go.

If the Holy Spirit lives in you, there is life in you. Drink from Him. Allow Him to speak to you, and follow His voice. Spend time in His Word and in prayer. Speak the promises of God’s Word over your life, and resist the voice of the enemy that tries to feed you with fear and dread. God’s Word is alive and active, and it can come to life in you if you feed upon it daily. Allow the Holy Spirit to fill you with His power until it flows from you and becomes a life giving source to others around you. You can quench the Spirit or allow Him to quench your thirst. You can choose death or life. From which cup will you drink today?

Have a blessed day!

Jeremiah 1:16

I will pronounce My judgments against them for all the evil they did when they abandoned Me to burn incense to other gods and to worship the works of their own hands.

The word used for “abandoned” here in the HCSB is the same as the word “forsaken” in the KJV. God pronounced judgment on those who turned from Him to worship other gods and their own works. We may get the mental picture that someone deliberately left the worship of Yahweh to worship another god, but that is not necessarily what happened. Israel never completely left their worship of God. They knew who He was and included Him; they simply added to their worship and preferred other gods. Such is the case when Jezebel introduced Baal worship into Israel. They continued to pay “lip service” to Yahweh, but their hearts were turned to Baal.

Bishop T.D. Jakes once explained the difference between leaving someone and forsaking someone. To leave someone is to remove your presence from him/her; to forsake is to disengage emotionally from someone. You can forsake someone without leaving. To take it a step further, we can still be physically engaged in worship by going through the motions but not emotionally engaged. No amount of physical faithfulness, however, can match full emotional participation in worship. If you are not engaged emotionally when you worship, you are being unfaithful to God. Extramarital affairs begin when one partner disengages emotionally in the relationship and becomes joined with another emotionally outside the marriage. You cannot be one if you are not fully engaged. Likewise, we are prey to idolatry when we are disengaged emotionally from our worship.

We must do more than just pay “lip service” to God. We cannot merely go through the motions of worship and not completely give ourselves to it. God wants a people who will worship Him in spirit and in truth, which means we engage emotionally and literally through the Word. He wants all of us and not just the shell of our outward being. He has promised never to leave us nor forsake us, and we desperately need Him to be emotionally engaged with us.

Deuteronomy 6:5 instructs us to love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and will all your strength. That is exactly the way Jesus loved us on the cross! He did not hold anything back nor withdraw from us. In fact, He cried out to God, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” God must forsake sin, and Jesus carried the full brunt of our punishment on the cross so we would never have to know the feeling of being forsaken by God. Worship Him with all you have today and every day because He is the only One worthy of complete worship. No other god – including the god of self – can satisfy the way He can. Return to Him emotionally and engage in full relationship with Jesus. True peace and joy are found only in Him.

Have a blessed day!

John 21:17b-18

“Feed My sheep,” Jesus said. “I assure you: When you were young, you would tie your belt and walk wherever you wanted. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will tie you and carry you where you don’t want to go.”

These were such hard words that Jesus gave Peter. They foretold the death Peter would face as a messenger of the gospel. Jesus was telling him to feed His sheep while he still had the freedom to walk around as he wished because one day, his freedom would be taken from him, and he would be able to preach no longer.

Jesus calls us all to follow Him and to feed His sheep. We are to do as He does and to help others follow Him, too. Now is the time to both follow Him and to feed His sheep because one day, it will be too late, and our time will be gone. While we live in a free country at the moment, attitudes against Christians are rising. We should never take for granted the freedom we have and use it for the purpose in which it was granted – to follow Christ and to feed His sheep. 

Are you following Jesus? If so, feed His sheep. Do His work now while you still have breath in your body, the ability to move around, and the freedom to do so. The day is coming when you will no longer be able to follow Him or serve Him on this earth. Make the most of the time you have left. Follow Christ, and He will give you sheep to feed along the way.

Have a blessed day!

Exodus 15:3

The LORD is a Warrior; Yahweh is His name.

We are most certainly living in a day of great spiritual warfare, and if you are trying to live a godly life at all, you are probably being attacked in some way. I see conflict, discouragement, hurt, sickness, tragedy, loss, and a disinterest in the things of God almost everywhere I turn. While it seems like the enemy is gaining ground, we must remember that God is a Warrior, and He fights for us.

Yahweh was known as the secret name of God. The Hebrews wouldn’t even try to pronounce the name. The proper spelling is YHWH, which would be impossible to pronounce, but Yahweh is the closest translation. In ancient Middle Eastern culture, if a priest knew a god’s name, it indicated a relationship and special access to that god. The Living God made His name known to all, and salvation is found only in Him.

Through Christ, we not only know God’s name, we have a true relationship with Him and can come before His throne of grace at any time. We don’t need a special “code name” to access Him. We are His children and heirs with Christ to the promise of eternal life. One day we will rule and reign with Him, so we may certainly come before God’s throne now to present our requests.

I’m urging you to make use of your access to God’s throne and pray. When you see bad things happen, pray. When you feel the weight of the enemy against you, pray. When you are discouraged and thinking about giving up hope, pray. When you feel as if the world is against you, pray. Bring every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, and take your thoughts, feelings, hurts, desires, and failures to God. He is greater than anything the Devil can bring against you, and He fights for you.

God still fights for our country, too. Even though we have turned against Him in many ways, God’s heart remains toward us because we are still here! Intercede on behalf of our nation, and ask God to turn back the laws and leaders that are against Him. He can change things if we, His people, are willing to pray and change our ways. We must learn to fight our battles on our knees and not each other. The LORD is a Warrior; Yahweh is His name.

Have a blessed day!

Proverbs 31:23

Her husband is known at the city gates, were he sits among the elders of the land.

The woman of Proverbs 31 is given to us in Scripture as a role model for godly women. She is in direct contrast to King Ahab’s wife, the wicked Jezebel. Jezebel had power only through the association of her husband, who was very weak in character. The wife of noble character, however, is a woman of strength and influence in her own accord. Her husband is respected as a leader because of his association with her. Indeed, a woman’s character will reflect upon her husband and will either gain or lose him respect as a leader among people.

The city gates in ancient Hebrew times were places where leaders met to make legal transactions and government decisions. It was, in fact, the gathering place of village leaders. The wife of noble character’s husband was known in the city gates and respected as an elder. Such a woman deserves an honorable man. As an honorable woman, however, she is an asset to him. His reputation is enhanced because of her. Ahab’s reputation was disgraced because of his association with Jezebel in a relationship that was considered forbidden by Mosaic law. As verse 10 of Proverbs 31 declares, a good wife may be hard to find, but she is worth far more than rubies to a man. Her reputation can literally make or break him in a role of leadership.

There is much biblical truth to the old adage, “Behind every successful man stands a good woman.” Our goal is to be a woman of noble character whether we have a man or not. Such a woman is an asset to any who are associated with her, and she deserves the reward of the fruit of her labor. To become such a woman, we can learn from the words Jesus told Martha in Luke 10:42: “…but one thing is necessary. Mary has made the right choice, and it will not be taken away from her.”  The path to becoming a woman of noble character today begins at the feet of Jesus.

Have a blessed day!

Genesis 26:23-24

From there he went up to Beer-sheba, and the LORD appeared to him that night and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your offspring because of My servant Abraham.”

During a time of famine, God sent Isaac to Abimilech, king of the Philistines, in a place called Gerar. He told him to settle there, and He would bless him. Isaac did as God told him to do, and while God did bless him, the blessing created conflict. The Philistines became very jealous of Isaac’s success and started filling his wells with dirt in order to stop his water supply and, thereby, his prosperity. Isaac simply moved forward and dug new wells and reopened wells dug by his father. This only created more conflict when Philistine herdsmen thought they were entitled to his wells and quarreled with him over them. Finally, Isaac dug a well that did not create a quarrel, and he called it “Open Spaces” because he finally found a place where God made room for him.

After this, Isaac went to a place called Beer-sheba, where God spoke to him and gave him a confirming word of His promise to bless him and multiply his offspring. No doubt, after experiencing such conflict, Isaac must have questioned whether he ever heard from God in the first place. After all, isn’t obedience supposed to bring blessing? God confirmed His word to Isaac, and Isaac built an altar to worship Him. Worship is always the correct response to God’s confirmation to us.

Gerar means “rolling country” and has the implication of a cow chewing cud.  Here, the cud keeps coming back up until the cow has completely processed it. In Gerar, Isaac kept experiencing conflict. To the Philistines, however, God kept blessing Isaac, which prompted them to jealousy. Their jealousy created conflict with Isaac. God was using His blessing toward Isaac to reveal something of Himself to the Philistines. Understand that God’s blessing on you will cause conflict with anyone or anything that is not in line with the will of God. God may use your blessing as a way of dealing with those forces He wishes to align with Himself. While it may be frustrating for you for a while, the process of God’s plan will bring you through the conflict to a peaceful victory.

Beer-sheba means “well of an oath.” A well is a source of water – a life-giving necessity and means of refreshment. An oath is a promise. When we are confused and wondering if we ever really heard from God, He will bring us to a place where we experience the necessary word of His promise, along with the confirmation and affirmation we need to continue. When we receive His confirmation, we will naturally be moved to worship!

If you have experienced a time of conflict in your efforts to follow Christ, know for certain that God will bring a Beer-sheba! He will confirm His word to you and bless you, just as He promised. No one can stop His blessing upon you, regardless of how much dirt they throw in your well! When God is your source, you have an ever-flowing supply of His grace, favor, and life-giving water! Just move forward, worship Him, and rejoice because He is with you!

Have a blessed day!

Psalm 107:19-20

Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble; He saved them from their distress. He sent His word and healed them; He rescued them from the Pit.

If there was ever a time when we need to be saved from distress, healed from diseases, and rescued from the snares of the enemy, it is now. I find great comfort in knowing that regardless of how impossible and frightening my world may get, I can still cry out to a God who hears and acts. When I can’t do anything, He is in control of everything. I’ve come to call this act of faith as “leaning.”

If you are going to cry about your situation – and sometimes that is all you can do – cry out to God. He has been faithful to His people in the past, and we know He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Rely upon His faithfulness to see you through dark circumstances, and rest in the knowledge that He is handling it. When you don’t have answers to your questions, lean into your faith in a God who is working it all out for your good.

From these verses, we see that God saved, He sent His word, and He rescued. We have to stop trying to save ourselves and come up with our own answers when we really don’t have any. Some circumstances are sent into our lives to get us to give up self-effort and look up to a Savior. When He moves on our behalf, we often find His will and His direction coming with His action.

If you are all out of answers today and in desperate need of a solution, cry out to God. He is doing something you cannot understand at the moment but will reveal in time. He is an expert at using the enemy’s attacks for your good, so let Him do His perfect work. He will save you from your distress, send His word to heal you, and rescue you from the pit. He is God, and that is His job. Let your faith lean upon His faithfulness.

Have a blessed day!

Song of Songs 8:13

You who dwell in the gardens – companions are listening for your voice – let me hear you!

Song of Songs is a picture of Christ’s relationship with the church. Here we see a portrait of the Bride as the Beloved and the Groom as the King with a passionate love that draws her to Him. In this verse, the King is speaking to His Beloved, assuring her that He is listening for her and desires to hear her voice.

To dwell in the gardens means that you are growing. You are blooming where you’ve been planted and are among the seeds God has decided to nourish. You have burst through the ground and have begun to blossom. As you grow, Christ wants to hear your voice.

In case you are feeling unloved, alone, or rejected, know that Jesus is waiting to hear your voice. Let Him hear from you today. Don’t engage in conversation with enemy voices that try to convince you that you are unwanted or unworthy. You have a King who is enthralled with your beauty and looks forward to hearing from you every day! Take advantage of His attention, and give Him the things of your heart. Tell Him the things that concern you, and don’t feed your fears by engaging the enemy. Be a voice for Him by first turning your voice to Him. As you enjoy His presence, your beauty will shine to the world.

Have a blessed day!

Ezekiel 34:26

I will make them and the area around My hill a blessing; I will send down showers in their season – showers of blessing.

God is not stingy in blessing His children! He blesses us to make us a blessing. Showers of blessing in this verse refer to productivity and prosperity. God wants us to be productive and prosperous. In fact, 3 John 1:2 states, “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.” The devil comes to steal, kill, and destroy so we will doubt the love the Father has for us. Out of His great love for us, however, God brings us into places where He can bless us and make us productive for Him.

The key to receiving God’s blessing is to first become a blessing to others. When we bless others – even our enemies – God blesses us. Instead of concentrating upon what we can get from God, we need to focus upon how we can be a blessing to someone else. As a result, we will find ourselves becoming a life-giving source that draws people to Christ. When we choose to become a blessing, God can use us to multiply His kingdom, and He anoints us to do just that. We are blessed to be a blessing.

We have rain in the forecast all day today.  I challenge you to avoid the temptation to succumb to the dreariness and feel down about the day or your life in general. When God promised us showers of blessing, that meant that rain must fall in order for us to receive all He has for us to become productive for His kingdom. Count your blessings, and thank Him where He has already done a work in your life. Give from the resources you have, and watch God do a mighty work in you, through you, and for you. Jesus is a stream of living water, and you are in Him. Tap into that stream and give life to someone today. You stand only to be blessed in return.

Have a truly blessed day!